House budget proposal: Some funding padded, some cut

TALLAHASSEE — Higher tuition for college students. State worker layoffs. Cuts to hospitals. Yet at the same time, boosts in funding for public schools as well as money to cover the state's popular back-to-school sales tax holiday.

Those details were included in a nearly $69.2 billion proposed spending plan for 2012, released by the Republican-controlled Florida House on Friday.

Heading into a crucial election year, the proposed budget on one hand embraces the push by Gov. Rick Scott to pump more money into education, but also rejects some of the extensive cuts in health care programs that he recommended.

Scott also proposed keeping tuition rates flat in the coming year, but legislators have instead recommended an 8 percent hike. That hike can go up to 15 percent under a law that lets universities charge above the rate legislators set each year.

House Speaker Dean Cannon called the initial House spending plan "intellectually honest" and said it did not rely on "phantom cuts" in order to balance the books. The House version of the budget is nearly $3 billion more than the one recommended by the governor last month.

That's not to say there aren't cuts included in the budget. The budget eliminates thousands of state jobs. While many of the positions are vacant, the House is still calling for the closing of driver license offices, a reduction in the number of probation officers, and even the elimination of a handful of investigators who handle arson and consumer fraud cases.

Hospitals would be hit with a 7 percent cut in reimbursement rates for treating patients enrolled in Medicaid, the state and federal health care program for the poor. The House would also limit some Medicaid services, such as the number of times a patient could visit an emergency room. There also are cuts proposed to higher education programs.

"Our team has done a really good job of identifying responsible tough choices," Cannon said.

House Democrats, noting cuts to community colleges and hospitals, appear unlikely to support the proposed budget when it comes up for votes in the next two weeks.

The release of the House budget is just the first step in what could be a protracted negotiation with the Senate. The House is currently on a pace to pass its version of the budget by the second week of February, or about the midpoint of the session.

So far there is no clear indication of when the Senate plans to release its proposed budget.

Senate President Mike Haridopolos has been skeptical about current economic projections and suggested that the Legislature may want to wait before passing the budget since it covers spending from July 2012 to June 2013. Lawmakers started their annual session early this year in order to draw up new Congressional and legislative districts.

The House budget calls for the state to boost its share of spending on public schools by more than $1 billion, but the increase will only result in a 2.27 percent per boost in per-student funding. That's because the state is paying for 31,000 more students and helping cover money that local school districts are losing due to continued drops in local property taxes.

But the House is also proposing a plan to replenish the state's depleted school construction account. A House panel this week approved a bill (HB 5703) that would shift money that now goes to other parts of the state budget into the special account that is used to pay for new school buildings and to repair roofs and air- conditioners.

The budget itself sets aside nearly $400 million to provide construction money for universities, community colleges and for charter schools. It includes no money for school districts.

State officials earlier this month took the unusual step of stopping payments to ongoing construction projects until lawmakers figured out a way to replenish the construction account.

The House is also proposing to set aside $100 million for tax cuts. One of the tax cuts the House is backing is the back-to-school sales tax holiday. A House panel earlier this week approved a bill (HB 737) that calls for a three-day sales tax holiday on Aug. 10 through Aug. 12. Floridians would not have to pay sales taxes on clothing items priced $75 or less or on school supplies $15 or less.

Last modified: January 28, 2012
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